


The Strongest Person I Know

by Noewantstowrite



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brief Ableism, Disabled Character, Established Relationship, F/F, Hinted Klance - Freeform, My First Fanfic, Not Beta Read, Quadriplegic, commission, quadriplegic Allura, sorry i didnt have time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22249756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noewantstowrite/pseuds/Noewantstowrite
Summary: “Pidge why can’t I move?” That seemed to be what broke Pidge’s attempt at not crying, tears flowed out of eyes like water out of a broken damn. Allura just became more panicked still attempting to move any limb she possibly could but there were no results all she could move her neck slightly inside of whatever was confining it.“I’m so sorry Allura. I'm so fucking sorry.” The tears continued their constant stream down her face and Allura could visibly see her small frame shaking as she sobbed.“Pidge-”
Relationships: Allura/Pidge | Katie Holt
Kudos: 7
Collections: Ang's commissions





	The Strongest Person I Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wombatking](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=wombatking).



> I was commissioned by the lovely wombatking on tumblr for a Pallura hurt/comfort fic where Allura was injured and becomes quadriplegic during a swimming accident. This is my first ever fanfic and the longest work i've ever done so sorry if it isn’t that good but i hope you enjoy! You can find me on tumblr @softboybyers

Saturday, July 20th, 2019

All she could think as she looked out on the expansion of the sea was that this night was absolutely perfect. It was only a mere month away from Allura’s senior year, she had been stressing over it daily since the beginning of August but as she looked around her spotting everyone she held close, the idea of her last year of highschool approaching seemed a little less scary. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Hunk and Shiro were cooking a meal at one of the small grills the beach offered—Allura’s uncle Coran insisted on helping them in anyway he could so he took to setting a nice area for them to sit and enjoy their meal comfortably. Keith had dozed off a couple minutes ago and Lance took that as his que to slowly bury Keith’s legs under the sand, and last but not least Pidge had her head placed in Allura’s lap Allura playing with her hair absentmindedly—Pidge seemed to pay no mind though as she wrote down notes for one of her extra credit courses she was doing over the summer. She was determined to be able to graduate a year early so she can walk the stage with her girlfriend and all their friends. Although their actions had all differed they all had a small content smile on their faces as they continued on with what they were doing. This had been the first time all of them have been able to hangout as a group since the summer had begun. Everyone had their own very hectic lives with jobs that were just as crazy. Well, in Shiro’s case university as he graduated last year along with Pidge’s older brother Matt. But after the first two and a half months of summer, Allura had managed to get them all to take a well deserved break from their busy lives to just lie down and relax on the beach with one another. 

“I’m so glad everyone came, I’ve really missed all of us being together,” Allura commented, continuing to play with Pidge’s hair. Pidge put her notebook down next to her to look up.

“Yeah I'm glad too,” Pidge smiled up at her. Allura leaned down and placed a gentle kiss a top her girlfriend’s beautiful smile. To this day, even after 6 months of dating, Allura’s heart still spun in her chest when she got the opportunity to indulge with her love. She pulled away to see the light dust of pink blush across Pidge’s face that was illuminated by the setting sun. Allura placed her hand on Pidge’s face and gently caressed her right cheek with her thumb as they just looked at one another fondly. The moment is perfect. 

“GET A ROOM!” 

The moment was perfect. 

Pidge sat up and looked in the direction of the voice, unsurprisingly, it was just a direct view of Lance sitting next to their sleeping friends buried legs. Pidge let out a sigh before glaring at Lance “Way to ruin the moment.” Her voice was monotone and evidently not amused but Lance just chuckled and continued to shape the sand covering Keith’s legs into something that vaguely resembles a fish’s tail. 

Allura turned to Pidge and smiled, “It’s okay babe he’s just jealous that we’re in a happy relationship while he’s stuck being an oblivious pinning idiot.” Allura looked at Keith’s sleeping face then back to Lance with a small smirk on her face. Lance’s face visibly got redder as he began to sputter towards Allura. 

“I AM NOT A PINING IDIOT.” Allura and Pidge fell into a fit of laughter while listening to Lance’s attempts to clear his name, not realizing he's being extremely loud and just proving their point. 

“Lance for once in your life can you please be quiet.” Keith spoke up voice still evidently laced with sleep as he began to rub at his eyes. Keith stopped for a second and dropped his hands to his sides as he stared directly up towards the umbrella that was providing him shelter from the particularly strong rays of sunlight. “Lance?” Lance looked towards Keith’s still buried yet figure. 

Pidge leaned towards Allura’s ear and whispered a quiet “Well this is gonna be fun to watch.” 

Lance responded with a hesitant but drawled out “...yes?” while slowly backing himself away from Keith.

“Would you care to explain why I can’t move my legs?”

“So... you see about that... uhm.” Lance stood up and bolted in the opposite direction as fast as he could. Keith sat up and began to try moving his legs eventually giving up and just using his hands to unburry himself as quick as he possibly could.

“GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT.” Keith managed to free his legs and started to run in the same direction as Lance. 

Allura and Pidge laughing to the point of near tears. Pidge took a sharp inhale of breath and began to calm her laughter. “I can’t believe those two, they act like such… such—” 

Allura interrupted her girlfriend “Oblivious pinning idiots?” Allura smiled. 

“Yes exactly that!” Pidge exclaimed, choosing to rest her head back into her girlfriends lap as they watched two of their closest friends chase after one another. 

Keith and Lance’s chase went on for ten minutes, much to the two girls’ amusements, that is until Shiro called that dinner was finished which is when both the boys decide to put their differences aside to go enjoy whatever delicacy Hunk had cooked for them this time. 

They all made their way to a large picnic blanket Coran had set up where various foods were laid out for everyone's taking. Once everyone was seated they immediately began piling their plates with every possible food.As per usual, the food was amazing and not one person had time to speak because their mouth was full. After eating, Coran started to clean the mess as everyone else laid across the blanket in a food comatose, stomachs jutting out just slightly more than they had before.

“I’m really glad we all got to hang out all together before the summer ended,” Allura spoke quietly, everyone nodding, so as to not disturb the peace. 

Lance sighed before beginning to talk, “I cant believe its already almost our senior year... it feels like just yesterday we were freshman. Now look at us. Shiros graduated, Alluras not only the best player on the soccer team but also class president, Pidge is the validictorian—no one even stood a chance against her—let’s be real, Hunk has culinary schools pretty much fighting over him, and Keith,” Lance put his hands up in the air to emphasize his statement “still has a fucking mullet.” Everyone began laughing

“You were almost sentimental there for a second Lance.” Hunk said through his laughter. 

Everyones laughter disolved into quiet giggles as Keith punched Lance’s shoulder while muttering a quiet “Fuck you.” 

Allura let out final puff of laughter “No but really i’ve missed this, i’ve missed you guys,” Everyone responded with a small ‘yeah’ or ‘me too’. 

They all talked until the sun had completely set and the moon light was reflecting in the ocean beautifully. Coran walked over from where he was seated “Sorry to interrupt your fun kiddos but we have 2 hours before the beach closes so i’d do anything you were planning on doing now before it's too late.”

Allura immediately looked in Pidge’s direction “We should swim! You haven’t even touched the water yet today.” Pidge looked very hesitant to accept her girlfriends request and Allura could tell before Pidge even had the chance to open her mouth, “Please Pidge I brought my board you can play around on that if you want to.” Allura grabbed Pidge and began to squeeze her in a tight hug shaking her back and forth slightly.

“Fine i’ll come with you but we aren’t going far the currents are supposed to be strong at this time.” 

Allura let an excited “Yes!” as she began to take off her throw over that was covering her bathing suit. She placed a quick peck on Pidges’ “My board is over by where Coran is sitting i’ll meet you in the water.” She gave her another quick peck before running to the ocean. 

Ever since Allura was a child she’d been in love with water and anything to do with swimming, even going as far to join a kids swim team which eventually evolved to her being on swim teams for a majority of her life, sadly Garrison highschool didn’t have a swim team so she joined a different sport which inevitably became soccer but she still swims constantly on her free time. It was safe to say that Allura was very confident in her swimming skills so like she usually does she naturally begins to swim into the deeper parts of the ocean where her feet could no longer touch the bottom. Usually when she swam she felt as if she was a part of the water as the walter molded around her body and she created her own path with the force of her legs propelling her forward but something was off this time. It felt as if the water was fighting against her but pulling her closer in at the same time. She attempted to stop moving but the water continued to rag doll her, she remembered Pidge warning her about the currents but she didn’t expect them to be that strong. She began to attempt to swim back to shore but it was futile the strong waves began to pull her under and further in dunking her under water for longer periods of time each time a new wave attacked. She began to panic trying to keep herself above water as much as possible. She attempted screaming but she wasn’t sure anyone heard her given each time she was cut off by copious amounts of salt water entering her mouth. She continued to struggle despite her beginning to become fatigued but then it happened. A particularly strong current pulled her under and deeper than before. It tossed her around and she flailed her limbs attempting to make her way to the surface but in her attempts she was pushed head first at full speed into a hard object she couldn't see. She let out a muffled scream as she felt the impact and heard a crack, all she could remember before blacking out was searing pain. 

\--------

Pidge watched her girlfriend run towards the large expansion of the ocean, her long white hair flowing behind her like a veil. The excitement painted on her girlfriends face gave Pidge a warm feeling that spread in her chest and made a slight flush cover her face. Once Allura got far enough away Pidge broke out of her enamoured daze and remembered the task at hand of getting Alluras board. She walked towards their little set up they had established earlier where Hunk, Shiro, and Coran were sat talking. 

“Hey wheres dumb and dumber?” They all looked up towards Pidge and silently pointed to their left where Keith and Lance were having some sort of make-shift volleyball tournament except it's just them 2 and all they have is a beach ball. Pidge just sighed and looked back towards the group in front of her.

“Uh anyways, Coran do you know where Allura’s board is, she said she brought it.” Coran nodded and turned around to start rummaging through the copious amount of stuff they brought with them. 

“Ah! I’ve found it.” 

Corran turns around sharply thrusting the board in Pidge’s direction with way too much enthusiasm. Pidge leans back to avoid getting decked by a surfboard. “Woah careful there, thanks though.” Pidge grabs the board and begins her walk to the shore. 

Walking there took her a minute lugging the weight of the board across the sand. She finally got to the edge and dropped the board on the wet sand getting ready to push it into the water but when she looked up she noticed she couldn’t see Allura.  
“Allura?” 

No response. 

“ALLURAAAAAA?”

No response.

Pidge began to get anxious scanning the area hoping maybe she just got out. The waves moved and there she was, relief momentarily spread through Pidge’s chest. 

“Oh thank god. Allura don’t go disappearing like that!’’ She yelled out to her girlfriends figure on the top of the water but there was no response. Allura was face down in the water white hair haloed around her head as the blood dripping from her skull began to over take its surroundings, covering everything in a sickly dark red.She doesn’t even remember letting out any noise but she assumes she must have when she was suddenly stopped from running head first into the dangerous waters to get Allura out on her own. 

She can’t remember most of what happened after being held back by Hunk from putting herself into those dangerous waters but one memory she knows she’ll never be able to forget is watching the love of her life get pulled out of the water covered in blood and unconscious.  
\-----------  
Monday, July 22nd, 2019

Allura opened her eyes to an unfamiliar place, she was in a room with blindingly white walls and chairs seated in front of her where she could see her uncle and girlfriend were seated. She tried to take in as much of her surroundings as possible but that proved to be difficult as there was something currently restricting her neck from moving fully. 

“Pidge?” Allura choked out trying to get her attention with her weak voice. Pidge looked up from where she was currently fiddling with her fingers, in the direction of Allura. Her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened, she shook the man next to her that had dozed off awake saying a barely audible ‘She’s up. Get the doctor.’ before running to Allura’s side. She immediately put her hand on Allura’s face rubbing her thumb comfortingly across her cheek. 

“Pidge? What’s going on where am I?” Pidge softly retreated her hand as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Allura. 

“You don’t remember what happened?” Allura looked at her with the same confused expression before Pidge continued speaking, “You hit your head hun. Really bad.” She could see tears slightly well in Pidge’s eyes but she quickly blinked them away. A pang of hurt ran through Allura as she saw how upset Pidge truly was, she attempted to move her arm wanting to put her hand on top of the other currently rested on her face but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel her arm she couldn’t even tell it was there. She began to try and move her other arm but nothing happened. She attempted to move her right leg. Nothing happened. She tried her left leg and she couldn’t feel a thing. She couldn’t even move a single finger on either hand. She could feel a cold sweat form on her face as she begins to panic. 

“Pidge why can’t I move?” That seemed to be what broke Pidge’s attempt at not crying, tears flowed out of eyes like water out of a broken damn. Allura just became more panicked still attempting to move any limb she possibly could but there were no results all she could move her neck slightly inside of whatever was confining it. 

“I’m so sorry Allura. Im so fucking sorry.” The tears continued their continuous stream down her face and Allura could visibly see her small frame shaking as she sobbed. 

“Pidge-”

She was interrupted by the door slamming open, multiple people dressed in scrubs and coats filed in Coran following behind. They immediately began checking her vitals and physical condition. They were bending her arms and legs but she couldn’t even feel a faint ghost of their touch, it was all completely numb. She wasn’t even given a chance to ask what was happening as everyone was so preoccupied. One of the doctors whispered something to Coran and he nodded walking over to pidge and quietly saying something to her before they were both escorted out of the room by a person in scrubs. Once they got the information they wanted most of the people backed out leaving only a woman in a lab coat and another woman in scrubs next to her holding a clipboard filled with papers. 

The woman in the lab coat spoke with a gentle voice, "Hello Allura I'm Dr.Li it's a pleasure to meet you. Do you mind if I sit and ask you some questions?" The woman sat on a metal stool placed next to Allura’s bed but made sure she was still in her line of sight since she couldn’t move her neck at the current moment. Dr.Li looked up and gave Allura a smile that she thinks was meant to be reassuring but the look of pity in her eyes told Allura that the smile wasn’t rooted in real hope and rather meant to try and soften the blow of whatever is to come. “You’re probably confused and scared but I want to let you know first that you are no longer in critical condition you’re in a very safe position but,” The doctor’s previous reassuring smile faltered, “I regret to inform you that permanent damage has already been done. You broke your C4 vertebrae and received traumatic injuries to your spinal cord. Due to the severity of these injuries it’s likely that you won't be able to move any limbs beneath your shoulders. We offer many physical therapy programs for our quadiplegic patients if you would be interested in attending some we can…” 

The doctors mouth continued moving but none of the words registered, Allura’s heart hammered in her chest and the familiar feeling of panic twisted in her stomach at the words she just heard. Her mind raced with a million thoughts per second. Quadipeligic? No way in hell she could be quadipeligic she has so much ahead of her. How is she going to continue soccer or swimming? How is she going to follow through with her plans for the future? She’s been planning on being a doctor how is she going to do that now? How is she going to do anything now? Why did this have to happen? Why me? Her heart was still hammering and she was beginning to become overwhelmed by the doctors incessant talking, she couldn’t take all the noise anymore.

“Can I please see my family?” The doctor stopped her train of thought and admittedly looked a little shocked that she was interrupted but seemed to understand what Allura was feeling and gave her a silent nod and walked out the room with the nurse. Less than a minute later Coran and Pidge walked in the room, they both had a look of relief on their face but pity and worry in their eyes.

\---

The silence as they waited to be called back by the doctor was suffocating. Pidge sat in an empty waiting room that is specifically intended for visitors with Coran. Neither said a word to one another too preoccupied with comprehending their own emotions. Pidge hasn’t calmed down since the incident, she hadn’t even gotten the chance so now that she’s alone with her thoughts it's a stark comparison to all the hecticness. When the doctors had first told Pidge and Coran about Allura’s condition she could tell it wasn’t good, she knew the logistics of Allura’s injuries and how dangerous spinal injuries can be. So when they were told that it's possible that Allura will be permanently paralized from the neck down Pidge was sadly not very shocked. They said that they still had to check more variables but Pidge knew how small the likelihood of her coming out with minor injuries is. But she hoped anyway. With everything in her she wished for Allura to be okay. She wanted Allura to be apart of that miniscule statistic of people who come out of traumatic spinal injuries relatively unscaved or with less serious permanent damage. But of course it wouldn’t end up that way. The doctors came in when Allura was still unconscious and informed Coran and Pidge of them confirming that Allura is quadripalegic. The doctor began to explain how she would still like to run an electromyography to see if there was any electrical activity present in the muscles. She just sat quietly and listened to the doctor speak but her stomach churned, even though she knew that the possibility of this coming was high the official confirmation made her feel sick. Thinking about it brings back the familiar feeling of grief to the pit of her stomach, thinking about the look on her loves face before she was forced out of the room by a barrage of doctors and nurses, thinking about everything Allura will have to go through from this point on, its truly painful. 

She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall and ran her hands across her face. She was beginning to get antsy evident from the persistent bouncing of her leg and her fidgeting with her hands when the door opened. Dr.Li and a nurse stood in the doorframe and look in the direction of where Pidge and Coran are seated. “Allura has requested to see you guys now. She’s visibly very distraught right now so just take it easy with her she’s going through a lot right now.” They get up and nod and the doctors words and follow her back to the direction of the room. Outside the room the doctor stops and turns towards them say “We’ll give you guys some personal time to talk to her. If you need anything at anytime feel free to call for any of us.” They nod in response, Coran saying a polite thank you before making their way into the room.

Pidge immediately made her way over to Allura as quickly as she could grabbing onto her hand and sitting next to the bed. “Hey hun,” Pidge spoke in a small and gentle voice, not wanting to overwhelm Allura. “How are you feeling?” Allura just looked at her and moved her gaze over to Coran who was standing directly in front of her. 

“Did they tell you guys?” Her voice was cold and emotionless. Her gaze was piercing but as empty as her voice. Everything about her seemed empty and deflated as if she were just a shell of her former person. Pidge had never seen her like this, she's never seen her so defeated. Allura always had a fire burning behind her eyes and passion coursing through her veins but now it seems like someone has choked the flame and bled her dry. 

Pidge swallowed the lump blocking her throat before responding, “Yes they told us.” Allura looked over at her facial expression not wavering. Pidge squeezed her hand, she would always do it in situations where either of them needed comfort that its become somewhat of a natural response but she wasn’t used to the lack of response and reaction from Allura. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Allura spoke and shifted her gaze from Pidge to Coran. “How the hell am I supposed to live like this?” Pidge could hear Alluras voice tightening the more she talks. “They said it’s permanent but there has to be a way to fix this right?” Allura’s voice became more desperate before she let out a quiet “Right?” looking for their confirmation but never receiving it. Pidge could hear Allura let out gentle sobs as tears spilled out from her eyes. Pidge wiped her tears with her hands trying to comfort her. “I can’t even wipe away my own tears. How am I supposed to live like this?” Her sobbing became louder and Coran made his way over to her side sitting next to her and coursing his hands through her hair, Pidge can recall Allura saying he would do that to comfort her when she was a child as well. 

Coran moved a strand of white hair away from Allura’s face and looked her in the eyes and gave her a fond smile. “Allura you are the strongest person I know,” He looked intently in her eyes and said, “If anyone I know can handle this it’s you.”

\---  
Saturday, October 12th, 2019

Allura wasn’t discharged from the hospital for another two and a half months after the original incident. For the first couple of weeks the doctors wanted to keep an eye on her vitals to make sure nothing would drastically change and that she was in a stable condition. Eventually Allura was moved to the rehabilitation wing of the hospital where they began having her undergo physical therapy. It was difficult for her. She had to have someone at her side 24/7 to help her with every move, there were no moments in the day where she could take a break and be by herself and it was starting to get to her. To make the time pass quicker she stayed up to date with her academics. School has only been in session for a month and a half but she refused to let what happened keep her behind on her academics so with close communication with all of her teachers and the help of Pidge she was on pace with all the other students if not ahead. Everyday without fail Pidge would come to the hospital after school let out and would stay until the doctors would tell her she has to leave at 9 pm. It was always Alluras favorite part of the day, Pidge would tell her everything that as going in school and relay messages from their friends if they couldn’t come to visit. Pidge would sit next to her holding her hand and relaying every detail about the classes Allura has missed, this is what she looked forward to everyday. Being able to just listen to Pidge and having a window into her old life was comforting, and the cute frustrated face Pidge would make when she would rant about something stupid her teachers did made Allura forget everything around her even for just a minute. 

When the doctors had informed her that she will be discharged from the hospital she was excited for in what felt like the first time in a very long time. She was so glad to finally be able to get out of that hospital, even though realistically it was a huge hospital it began to feel cramped to her as she was restricted to primarily her room and the various rooms they had physical therapy exercises in. For a minute there she was genuinely convinced that she would lose her mind if she didn’t get to spend more time outside and see the sky and just smell fresh air instead of the oddly specific scent of a hospital, she was going to lose her mind. 

When she was being pushed down the hallways of the hospital with Pidge by her side and Coran pushing her toward the entrance she could feel the faintest bit of happiness well up in her chest. Being happy recently has been hard but she was getting her chance to go back to some semblance of her normal life and god damnit she couldn’t wait to go back to what she had. Pidge was rambling on next to her about how happy is going to be to see her and how everyone at school has been continuously asking Pidge if she was doing better, Allura just nodded along to what Pidge was saying opting to take in all of her surroundings and just listen instead of responding. As they approached the door multiple nurses began to say their farewells and Doctors saying they’ll see Allura when she comes back for physical therapy. What was just a small bubble of happiness floating through her chest became bigger as she smiled at everyone and the automatic door to the outside opened to her. 

When she got outside the first thing she noticed was the fresh air brush across her face and a sense of freedom start to emerge but not soon after she noticed the small group of four people holding various goodies and a small sign. Keith, Lance, Shiro, and Hunk all stood next to one another with smiles plastered across their faces looking ridiculous as they tried balancing a copious amount of things. Keith was holding a giant stuffed animal that was almost the size of him, Shrio had a bunch of cute pink and silver balloons, Hunk was holding loads of gift bags, and Lance was just holding a mere eight by eight piece of paper with “Welcome home” scrawled across it and little sketches of what Allura can assume is all of them littered across it. She broke out into a giant smile, she can’t believe them sometimes. 

“ALLURAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” Lance let out a delighted screech as he ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her the best he could while she was seated in her wheelchair. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you nothing feels right without you around.” She laughed as he began to pull away hands still on her shoulders. “You have to promise me to never leave us for this long ever again, it’s been hell dealing with all of these asshats on my own.” She starts laughing even harder, she’s really missed his sense of humor and all the reactions to his ridiculous jokes. 

“Dealing with us? More like us dealing with you.” Keith said as he, Hunk, and Shiro made their way over much slower than Lance due to their hands being full. 

“Keith don’t start with me now.”

Allura watched with a smile seeing the two of them bicker like they always do, the continuity of everything is comforting. “You guys haven’t changed at all huh?” She laughed while Keith and Lance looked down looking embarrassed. “But I must admit I missed it a lot.” 

“I don’t blame you,” Lance said attitude changing in the blink of an eye as he rose his nose and his voice exudes confidence, “I mean who wouldn’t miss this?” He flashes his award winning smile as he gestures his hands up and down his body, Allura just scoffs and rolls her eyes feigning annoyance when in reality she was having the most fun she has had in a while. 

“Alright alright we get it you 2 now give the girl some space lets get her home before bombarding her.” Pidge said while waving them out of the way so Coran could push her towards the minivan they had all piled into to get here. 

“Awwwwww come on Pidge we haven’t even gotten to show her all the cool goodies we got her.” Lance puffed out with a small pout on his face, he was making the same face a disappointed child would make when their mom says they have to leave the park. Appropriately Pidge responds with a stern facial expression making Lance just huff and move out of Corans way and they all began walking to the car.

“All this stuff is for me? Why did you guys get so much?” She looked around at everything they were holding and it was more than the usual small teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers from the hospital gift shop. She must admit seeing everything did make her happy and she definitely felt loved and supported but she couldn’t help feeling like she didn’t really deserve all of this, especially when she hasn’t done anything for them in return. Hunk looked towards her and gave her a fond look reaching over and gently ruffling her hair the best he could with gift bags hanging off his arms before speaking.

“It's because we missed you silly,” He pulls his hand away before continuing “and also we kept seeing stuff that reminded us of you and just bought it without thinking, gotta say we’re all very guilty of that one.” He chuckled at himself and a slight pink dusted his cheeks. They finally got to the van and they all began piling in, Pidge helped her girlfriend out of the chair and into a seat while Coran folded the chair and stored it in the trunk.” 

“Oooooh man just you wait till you see what we all got for you at home, Allura you’re going to lose your mind it’s so awesome!” Lance exclaimed as Pidge finally got Allura buckled up and made sure she was completely comfortable.

“Dude don’t spoil the surprise!” Hunk lightly punched him in the shoulder. Lance usually isn’t very good at keeping secrets so Allura is just honestly impressed he hasn’t spilled all the details yet.

“I didn’t spoil it I just mentioned it existed.” Lance threw his hands up in deffense blocking Hunks joking punches. Pidge climbed into the seat next to Alluras and shut the door waiting for Shiro and Coran to get into the two front seats. 

“I heard you guys talking about surprises did Lance already let something spill?” Pidge turned around to look at Lance who was currently squished between Keith and Hunk.

“I didn’t spill anything! I just mentioned that we have another gift for her at home.”

Pidge looked at him with suspicion on her face before saying “No more talking about gifts.” and turning around to face Allura. Allura nearly got whiplash by how quickly Pidge’s attitude changed from angry mom to the most loving person in the world. As soon as she turned around she gave Allura a look of soft eyes and a loving smile as she leaned over to brush her hair back into place after it being messed up from her being moved from the wheelchair to the seat and asked “How are you feeling sweetheart?” Allura craned her neck to the side the best she could so she could get a better look at Pidge, she wanted to see that smile for however long she possibly could.

“I’m good babe, i’m really good right now.” 

\---

The hour long car ride was fun, they all chatted, most of it consisting of them filling Allura in on every small detail of their lives she had missed. She learns that Lance had been accepted onto the boys soccer team which she had been pressing him to join since their freshman year, Keith had gotten into trouble for beating up a homophobic kid that was targetting a freshman that was “like two feet tall” which isn’t a new occurence for him but hearing his stories and how brash he is always was quite entertaining, Hunk talked about a girl named Shay he’d met that he’s been talking to and trying to build up the courage to ask on a date, and Shiro was still trying to get used to college but was meeting some really nice new people especially a guy named Adam he met in his aerospace course, he tended to linger on him more than anyone else he talked about. They had asked her questions about how she was but she tried to ignore as much as she could by giving excuses like ‘Oh not much’ and ‘I wanna know about you guys!’ in reality she knows she could tell them stories about the progress of her health but she just really didn’t want to talk about it. She’s doing better but her condition never stopped angering her, she still sometimes cries when she tries to do something that used to be simple to her but isn’t anymore and there were some days she didn’t see the purpose of getting out of her hospital bed for physical therapy because no matter what she did she knew she’d never be able to move normally again. She didn’t want to tell them that, she was happy right now, they were happy right now, they don’t need to listen to her problems when they're having a good time. 

Their conversations came to a halt when they pulled up to the house where everyone promptly began climbing out of the car and grabbing items out of the trunk. Allura sat in her seat while she waited for the wheelchair to be taken out of the trunk and set up. She admired the house in front of her through the windshield. It has been months since she last saw her own home, she never really had much of an appreciation for it before the accident. It was a very normal 1 story house, it was in good shape for its age, painted the same color of beige as every other house on their street with a fence wrapped around the small amount of land the house occupied. She never really took time to think about where she lived much but having been stuck in an uncomfortable hospital for the past two and a half months gave her a completely different view on what she calls her home. 

Her gaze was so fixated on the house in front of her that momentarily she didn’t notice pidge opening the door next to her, wheelchair set up with Shiro holding it in place on the steep driveway by the handles. “Hey what's got your eye?” Pidge said while leaning over and unbuckling Allura from her seat and gently picking her up and moving her to the wheelchair. 

“Its nothing was just thinking about how much ive missed it here.” Allura looked up at her girlfriend while she placed her in the wheelchair a small smile adorned her face. Once she was seated they made their slow venture towards the open door where the rest were wadling in with everything they had brought to the hospital. When she was pushed through the door she couldn’t help the light feeling that arose in her as she took in her surroundings. Everything is close to exactly how it was left, down to minor details like the placement of the shoes on the bench next to the door. While Shiro pushed her down the hall to the living room she kept her eye out trying to pick up every small thing that may have changed or stayed the same since she was last here. She was pushed into the living room where all of the others except Shiro and Pidge were gathered. The living room was decorated from head to toe with ribbons and a large banner draped across the room that read “Welcome home!” The balloons that they had with them in the car were in a bunch next to the group of them standing around an object in the middle of the room. There is what looks like a wheelchair much larger than the one she is currently sat in, in the middle of the group with Coran behind it and the others off to the side. The wheelchair sat tall with wheels double the size of the wheels on the wheelchair the hospital gave her, it looked much more durable with a better cushioned seat, a head rest with reinforced neck support, and thick arm rests. She also noticed a straw shaped component by the head rest but she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what its use could be. The chair looked amazing certainly much better than the one the hospital had provided but it looked extremely expensive. 

“Surprise!” The whole group let out the shout in unison, they all looked extremely pleased with themselves studying Alluras face for her reaction. She was initially shocked of course, she was not expecting such a generous gift but her face broke out into a blindingly joyous expression. 

“Guys, what, you didn’t have to do this. I love it but it looks like it would cost a lot.” She looked at all of them with a sincere look of appreciation across her face. Pidge just chuckled and put her hand on Allura’s shoulder. 

“We wanted to hun it was a collective idea plus,” She pushed Allura closer to the large wheelchair. “It’s going to make your life much easier and enjoyable you can’t put a price on that. Also we all chipped in as much as we could so the cost wasn’t too rough.” Shiro gently picked her up, with a nod of approval from Allura, and put her in the high wheel chair. Pidge adjusted some of the minor things like the placement and position of the head rest asking her if everything was to her liking. Allura nodded enthusiastically as she already felt ten times more comfortable being this chair than the small flimsy one now abandoned in front of her. Pidge adjusted the straw like component that was hanging off the side of her head rest and positioned it next to Alluras mouth. 

“Whats this?” She looked curiously at the object not wanting to touch it incase it was an important part of the chair. 

Pidges eyes lit up when Allura asked her question. “Oh! This is the best part of the entire wheelchair! Try it out, put your mouth on the straw and blow then suck on it afterwards.” Allura looked at her skeptically not exactly sure what to expect from this, she's seen high tech wheelchairs before but never one with something like this on it but Pidge just sat excitedly silently egging her on to try it. Allura leaned forward and wrapped her lips around the plastic and let out a hard blow of air, immediately the wheelchair began to move forward. Shocked Allura blew into the device not sure of what was happening and just following Pidges instructions and it promptly stopped. She stared dumbfounded at the small instrument in front of her, she just moved on her own and she couldn’t believe it.

Pidge let out a high pitched excited squeal, a very unusual noise for her to make. “It awesome right?! I didn't even know something like this existed until I stumbled upon it while doing research on your condition. This bad boy is called a Sip-and-puff wheelchair. It uses this little straw thing and with the input of you either ‘sipping’ or ‘puffing’ and how long and hard you do it it translates to the movement of the chair this way you can move around pretty fluidly by yourself. There still a bunch you need to learn about the chair cause theres different thing you have to do to get it to move how you want.” Allura stared at everyone in the room then back to the plastic in front of her mouth opening and shutting, like a fish out of water as she tried to think of words to say. Tears began to well slightly in the corners of her eyes, she not sure if her friends understand how important something like this is to her, just getting the chance to move around semi normally, giving her even the smallest reminder of what it was like to move on her own before the incident, it meant more to her than anything in the world. It gave her hope, it gave her courage to face her future even if she’s scared.

\---

Tuesday, October 15th, 2019

The morning of her first day back to school was hell. She had spent the whole weekend with Pidge getting the controls of her wheelchair down pat and going over her classes with Pidge since the school had been generous enough to give them the same schedule so Allura would have a helper ready at all times if need be. She already went over details like work, tests, and note taking with her teachers so she thankfully didn’t have to worry about that over the weekend as well. Having Monday off for some bullshit holiday gave her more time to prepare for school thankfully but that didn’t stop her from feeling completely vulnerable and lost when she was woken up by Pidge’s light touch on her face. They had agreed the night before to meet every morning before school if possible but she was still pleasantly surprised that Pidge had come early enough to help her get ready. It was silent between the two of them as Pidge helped dress her into the outfit they had picked out together the night before. Anxiousness clawed at Allura’s stomach giving her the familiar feeling of nausea. She breathed through it but Pidge seemed to have noticed and opted to the quiet approach of giving her reassuring rubs and pats letting her know that she's not in any of this alone. 

After eating a quick breakfast with one another they made their way to the van that Coran drives them everywhere in. Allura was helped into the back seat as Coran pushed the heavy wheelchair up a ramp that is attached to the van and into the trunk. The school was only 5 minutes away so the ride was quick, when Allura saw the school her heart sped up. She’s glad to be back and glad to be apart of everyone around her lives but she's scared. Scared of how different things will be, scared to know if she will be able to handle it. She reminds herself what Coran said to her the 1st day she awoke in the hospital, “If anyone can handle this its you.” She lets go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she began to calm down some. She repeated the words in her head over and over until she felt stable. She could handle this, she knows she can. 

She was helped out of the car and into her wheelchair with still 10 minutes left till the 1st bell rings. She waves bye to Coran as he pulls away leaving her and Pidge alone on an empty sidewalk. “So,” Allura looks up to Pidge smiling before continuing “Where to first?”

\---

The day went by fairly smoothly. Many people had stopped her in the hallway on numerous occasions asking her how she is some people came up to her at lunch opting for a much longer catch conversations than the casual ‘How have you been’ in the hallways. Every gesture made her happy even if she barely talked to the person before the accident knowing she was on someone’s mind warmed her heart. It was the last period of the day before she even noticed, her sixth class was Ap statistics arguably the easiest for her personally since she had gone ahead of the class by an entire unit while she was studying in the hospital. She sat silently and listened to the teacher lecture until 5 minutes before the dismissal bell rings when the teacher finishes and tells them to pack up their things. She turns to pidge who stood up and began piling materials into her bag, she was going to mention something about a problem they had just worked through when an announcement came over the intercom.

“Reminder to the student councils there will be meetings today. Seniors will meet in Mrs.Sanchez’s room, Juniors will meet…” 

Allura tuned out the rest and turned to her girlfriend. “Shit i didn’t know there was supposed to be a meeting today. Can you text Coran for me and let him know he doesn’t have to pick us up till later?” Pidge nods pulling out her phone and typing away. Before the summer Allura had been elected the president of her class along with being promoted to captain of the soccer team and co captain of the swim team. After the incident Allura couldn’t be apart of the soccer or swim team sadly but she still had the title of class president to her name and that gave her a lingering sense of pride. Pidge confirmed her text to Coran and they made their way to the room the meeting is in as soon as the bell giving them permission to leave rang. It took them a couple minutes longer to get the room than usual navigating crowded halls and getting to the second story of the building was much harder when you couldn’t walk and your wheelchair is super clunky. Despite the delay though they got there, Pidge had opened the door for her letting Allura navigate her way into the room.

The look of shock on some of her fellow council members faces when they saw her was priceless and she couldn’t help the small giggle that slipped past her lips. “Allura?” She looks up making eye contact with the vice president of the senior class, Kaitlyn Summers. She was a pretty tall girl with dark curly hair and dark eyes to match, she was the captain of the basketball team and overall very well liked by everyone at their school. She was ambitious making her fun to work with. 

Allura looked up observing everyone in the room all of their expressions take aback she was shocked they hadn’t heard that she had arrived back at school. “Hi!” Allura smiled at them after her greeting but the feeling in the room was off, no one responded right away and for the first time in the day she didn’t get a ‘oh my god how are you feeling?’ or a ‘We’ve missed you so much!’, no she got something much colder. Kaitlyn looked her dead in the eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

Allura felt like she’d just been doused with cold water. She was not expecting that response nothing even close to it, maybe a ‘oh my god we didn’t know you got released from the hospital!’ but definitely not a passive aggressive ‘what are you doing here?’. Allura looked at her eyebrows furrowed obviously confused and slightly offended. “I’m the president what do you mean what am I doing here it’s my job to be here.” The other girls intense gaze didn’t falter one bit.

“You aren’t the president anymore Allura.”

Allura took in a sharp intake of breath then let it out slowly she was becoming more and more frustrated with this girls vague and unexplanatory answers by the minute. “What do you mean i'm not the president anymore?” 

The girl looked at her rolling her eyes slightly as if she has the audacity to be annoyed at Allura for not knowing what the hell is going on. “I mean you are no longer the president. It was assumed that you wouldn’t want to join again after your incident and even if you did the council came to an agreement that they wouldn’t want someone in,” she looks Allura up and down “your condition running something like this. We aren’t sure if you’d be able to handle it.” Allura couldn’t bring herself to say anything as her throat tightened and she tried her best to hold back the tears that began to collect in her eye. Kaitlyn had the audacity to smile at her with the fakest smile shes ever seen and with a sweet voice say “You are more than welcome to sign up to be a council member though! We are always willing to get insight from more of the student body.” Allura couldn’t bring herself to say anything she just stared at the girl in front of her. 

“You know what Kaitlyn? Fuck you and your fake ass personality and fuck the rest of you for sitting here and letting her talk like that to someone. You don’t even deserve to get to know Allura let alone have her be a part of your trashy council. Have fun trying to get anything done without her you dirtbags.” Pidge turned around and opened the door before pushing Allura out and slamming the door behind her with a kick. She pushed Allura down the hallway as quickly as possible trying to make it to the elevator in an angry speed walk. Allura still hasn’t said a word but tears were streaming down her face now wetting her shirt. She wanted to cover her face a scream into her hands, she wanted to get out of this god damn chair and just run where ever her feet took her, she wanted to stand up and scream in kaitlyn’s stupid smug face, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move a single god damn muscle and she felt worthless. All she could do was cry and let the tears go their natural path. Pidge pushed her into the elevator and finally turned to look at Allura. “Babe I am so sorry this happened they have no right to treat you like that.” Allura looked over to her partner looking in her eyes that were burning with rage. 

“Maybe they’re right.” Alluras voice was quiet and cold she could barely hear herself she's not sure how Pidge managed to hear her. 

“No, Allura don’t even say that.”

“Why not Pidge?” More tears began spilling over. “What is there to prove them wrong? I can’t do the most basic fucking things any human can do. I can’t eat on my own, get dressed on my own, I can’t even get out of this wheelchair on my own. I can’t do anything Pidge.” The elevator door opened and Pidge pushed her out and moved out of the way of the elevator door before turning around and beginning to talk again. 

“Allura absolutely none of that is true. You wake up every morning and just try. Sure you can’t do some basic things on your own but who cares! You wake up every morning ready to face the world and work your ass off to live a normal life and god damnit thats more than half of those low lives can even claimed to have done. Everyday you don’t just live,” Much like Allura tears began to flow out of Pidge’s eyes but she doesn’t wipe them away instead she leans over and puts her hands on Alluras face cradling her cheeks in her palms. “You survive Allura, and that is the hardest thing someone could ever do.” 

Pidge pulls her into an embrace and for the first time she thinks she will get through this. No matter how hard or how many obstacles.

She will get through this.

\---  
Saturday, November 16th, 2019

If there is anything Allura has learned in the past 4 months its that anything can change in the blink of an eye. One minute you can be living a perfect life and the next you could be in the hospital never able to move anything under your neck ever again. Changes are inevitable she’s definitely learned that but she's also come to learn that change isn't always bad. She went from crying in the school hallway to becoming her class president again thanks to multiple kids reporting harassment on Alluras behalf and getting Kaitlyn summers removed and replaced with the proper president. Ever since then she's been working with the school board making sure everything in their school is perfectly accessible and safe for everyone no matter disability. She went from feeling worthless to having the most confidence she’s ever had in her entire life. She’s learned to love her life, difficulties and all. 

“COME ON YOU TWO WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE TO THE GAME IF WE WAIT ANY LONGER TO LEAVE!”

She was broken out of her train of thought by Lance’s yells from the living room, she hadn’t even realized she zoned out. She looked towards Pidge who was finishing up her outfit. “You can go i’ll be out in a minute.” Allura nodded and began her descent to the living room by plowing on the straw in front of her mouth. She was greeted by the familiar scene of her friends piled on the couch. 

“Where’s Pidge?”  
“She’s coming Lance just give her a second.”

Lance lets out a dramatic sigh throwing his head onto Keith’s shoulder. “She needs to hurry up, she knows how important this game is!” They all do to be honest. It's the first girls soccer game of the season. Pidge had insisted that Allura must go to see it to support her old teammates. Allura was reluctant at first but begrudgingly accepted wanting to support her friends more than avoid getting sad over not being on the team with them. 

“Alright i’m done lets get a move on!” Pidge walked past all of them seated on the couch and immediately made her way to the door yelling at Lance for being too slow just to piss him off. 20 minutes of bickering later they had arrived at the field where all the home games for their soccer team was held. They found their way to a shaded area and sat down getting the best seats in the entire place. So much for being late they were early and barely anyone has shown up yet besides the teams and a couple families. 

“Allura!!!” She turns around to see a bunch of girls in soccer uniform running towards her arms open ready to absolutely consume her in a mountain of hugs. “We’re so glad you came.” She couldn’t pinpoint who said it because of the amount of people hanging off of her currently. 

“Of course i’d come. Never missed a game in the past 4 years not gonna start now.” They all chuckled. After catching up and a copious amount of more hugs coach called them over to get ready since the game starts in 10 minutes. Once everyone left Pidge moved back to her seat next to her love and wrapped her arm around Allura’s shoulders. 

“I'm glad you decided to come.”

Allura leans over to Pidge and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Yeah I’m glad I came too.” As she listened to the conversations around her and enjoyed the warmth of her girlfriend, all she could think as she looked out on the expansion of the field is that this day is perfect.


End file.
